E-Governance for Rural Development: a Case Study on Union Information and Service Centre (UISC) of Bangladesh

The “digital divide” between urban and rural areas has introduced a significant issue in equal access to Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) in developing countries such as Bangladesh. This inequitable access to ICT has implication for productivity and economic growth of the country. To bridging the gap, Government of Bangladesh has taken initiatives to introduce various ICT interventions in its rural and regional areas. Union Information and Service Centre (UISC) is one of those initiatives which are expected to bring the opportunity for rural communities to better access to ICT. However, no studies have been reported to investigate its potentiality for rural communities in offering accessing to information and technology. This study attempts to investigate this issue from actual beneficiary perspective. The main objective of this study is to provide a synopsis of the roles UISC could play in various socio-politico-economic sectors in the vicinity of countryside of Bangladesh. This paper confers the significance of free access to both technology and information through a case study conducted in rural areas in Bangladesh.